The government should immediately launch a blood transfusion drive to end the deaths of people due to shortage of vital fluid, an MP has said (Star, December 2, p.10). What is the meaning of this? Blood transfusion is the transfer of blood into a patient’s circulation system. Probably the MP called for a blood donation campaign?
Supreme Court Judge Njoki Ndung’u has disabused claims that the majority of young men in jail are those who cannot zip up (Star, December 3, p.3). The word disabuse is used incorrectly here. It means correct, enlighten or free from error. The proper construction is “disabuse someone of”. One does not disabuse errors or claims, as in this case.
The judge, who sponsored the law in 2006 when she was a nominated member of Parliament, on Monday said the clamour to amend the law under the guise that it has filled jails with young men is misplaced and false (Star, December 3, p.3). Bad construction. It is always “in/under the guise of,” meaning “in/under the pretext of” or “ostensibly to” or “in/under the appearance of”.
At the home of John Ndonu at Mirera in the periphery of Naivasha town, dark clouds hanging in the air personifies the gloomy moment (Nation online, December 3). Dark clouds personify. When the noun is in plural, the verb in simple present tense takes singular form and vice versa.
She had scored 346 marks in the KCPE, laying bear her education prowess and secured admission at the prestigious Mary Leakey Girls’ School, and was set to join Form Three next year (Nation online, December 3). Laying bare, not bear.
The government has released the latest statistics on the devastation caused by floods that continue to wreak havoc in parts of the country (KBC Channel1 News, December 3). That is not the news. Tell your reader straightaway what the statistics are. That is the news.
Launch of Public Outreach Caravan in Wote Bus Park. Twalib Mbarak Secretary KLIF & CEO @EACCKenya extolled members of the public to embrace ethical values (EACC tweet, December 4). To extol means to praise enthusiastically. Is that what Mbarak did?
Held before Christmas, the Rusing festival celebrates the culture of the Abasuba community leaving in Rusinga and Mfangano islands (travelog.ke, a publication of Standard Group). Are the Abasuba “leaving” the islands or they are “living” there?
